If the meaning contained in a remedial message has not been satisfactorily comprehended, then its intended impact upon consumer beliefs cannot logically be achieved. The present investigation, employing three heterogeneous samples, found that remedial messages using “plain English” developed and proposed by the FTC may be widely misunderstood by large segments of the population.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
ArmstrongG. M., GurolM. N., and RussF. A. (1979), “Detecting and Correcting Deceptive Advertising,”Journal of Consumer Research, 6 (March), 237–246.
2.
ChaikenS., and EaglyA. H. (1976), “Communication Modality as a Determinant of Message Persuasiveness and Message Comprehensibility,”Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 34 (October), 605–614.
3.
ClarkH. H., and ChaseW. G. (1972), “On the Process of Comparing Sentences Against Pictures,”Cognitive Psychology, 3 (July), 472–515.
4.
CohenD. (1974), “The Concept of Unfairness As It Relates to Advertising Legislation,”Journal of Marketing, 38 (July), 8–13.
5.
DyerR. F., and KuehlP. G. (1974), “The ‘Corrective Advertising’ Remedy of the FTC: An Experimental Evaluation,”Journal of Marketing, 38 (January), 48–54.
6.
DyerR. F., and KuehlP. G. (1978), “A Longitudinal Study of Corrective Advertising,”Journal of Marketing Research, 15 (February), 39–48.
7.
EngelJ. F., BlackwellR. D., and KollatD. T. (1978), Consumer Behavior, 3rd ed., Hinsdale, IL: The Dryden Press.
8.
FisherowW. B. (1979), “FTC Complaint Counsel's Statement Concerning Corrective Advertising for Excedrin and Bufferin.” In the matter of Bristol-Myers Company, Ted Bates and Company, Inc., and Young and Rubicam, Inc. Docket No. 8917, Federal Trade Commission.
9.
GardnerD. M. (1975), “Deception in Advertising: A Conceptual Approach,”Journal of Marketing, 39 (January), 40–46.
10.
HarrisR. J., and MonacoG. E. (1978), “Psychology of Pragmatic Implication: Information Processing Between the Lines,”Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 107 (January), 1–22.
11.
HoyerW. D., JacobyJ., and NelsonM. C. (forthcoming), “A Model for the Development, Evaluation and Implementation of Remedial Advertising Statements,” in 1982 Proceedings: Southwestern Marketing Conference, LeonR. P., ed., Southwestern Marketing Association.
12.
HuntH. K. (1972), “Source Effects, Message Effects, and General Effects in Counter-Advertising,” in Proceedings, Third Annual Conference, Association for Consumer Research, VenkatesanM., ed., p. 370–381.
13.
HuntH. K. (1973), “Effects of Corrective Advertising,”Journal of Advertising Research, 13 (October), 15–24.
14.
JacobyJ., HoyerW. D., and ShelugaD. A. (1980), The Miscomprehension of Televised Communication, New York: American Association of Advertising Agencies.
15.
JacobyJ., HoyerW. D., and ZimmerM. R. (1981), “To Read, View or Listen? A Cross-Media Comparison of Comprehension,”New York University, Graduate School of Business Administration, working paper no. 81–72.
16.
JacobyJ., NelsonM. C., HoyerW. D., and GueutalH. G. (1981), “Probing the Locus of Causation in the Miscomprehension of Remedial Advertising Statements,”New York University, Graduate School of Business Administration, working paper.
17.
JacobyJ., and SmallC. S. (1975), “The FDA Approach To Defining Misleading Advertising,”Journal of Marketing, 39 (April), 65–68.
18.
JustM., and CarpenterP. (1971), “Comprehension of Negation with Quantification,”Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 10 (June), 244–253.
19.
KaplanR. M. (1974), “Transient Processing Load in Relative Clauses, unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Harvard University.
20.
KassarjianH. H., CarlsonC. J., and RosinP. E. (1974), “A Corrective Advertising Study,” in Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 2, SchlingerM. J., ed., Ann Arbor: Association for Consumer Research.
21.
LavidgeR. J., and SteinerG. A. (1961), “A Model of Predictive Measurements of Advertising Effectiveness,”Journal of Marketing, 25 (October), 59–62.
22.
LindsayP. H., and NormanD. A. (1977), Human Information Processing: An Introduction to Psychology, 2nd ed., New York: Academic Press.
23.
MazisM. B., and AdkinsonJ. E. (1976), “An Experimental Evaluation of a Proposed Corrective Advertising Remedy,”Journal of Marketing Research, 3 (May), 178–183.
24.
McGuireW. J. (1976), “Internal Psychological Factors Influencing Consumer Choice,”Journal of Consumer Research, 2 (April), 302–319.
25.
MizerskiR. W., AllisonN. K., and CalvertS. (1980), “A Controlled Field Study of Corrective Advertising Using Multiple Exposures and a Commercial Medium,”Journal of Marketing Research, 17 (August), 341–348.
26.
RumelhartD. E. (1977), Introduction to Human Information Processing, New York: J. Wiley and Sons.
27.
RussoJ. E., MetcalfB. L., and StephensD. (1981), “Toward an Empirical Technology for Identifying Misleading Advertising,”Journal of Consumer Research, 8 (September), 119–131.
28.
SawyerA. G., and SemenikR. J. (1977), “Carryover Effects of Corrective Advertising,”Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 5, Keith HuntH., ed., Ann Arbor: Association for Consumer Research.
29.
TrabassoT. (1972), “Mental Operations in Language Comprehension,” in Language Comprehension and the Acquisition of Knowledge, FreedleR. O., and CarrollJ. B., eds., Washington, DC: Winston.
30.
TrabassoT., RollinsH., and ShaughnessyE. (1971), “Storage and Verification Stages in Processing Concepts,”Cognitive Psychology, 2 (March), 239–289.
31.
WannerE., and MaratsosM. M. (1974), “On Understanding Relative Clauses,” unpublished manuscript, Harvard University, Department of Psychology and Social Relations.
